Commercial Sewage Ejector, Grinder Pumps, and Lift Stations
HT Strenger installs and services the commercial pump systems that move sewage, wastewater, and stormwater out of below-grade fixtures and up to the gravity sewer. Basement bathrooms, below-grade break rooms, elevator sumps, floor drains in industrial buildings, and full lift stations serving buildings that sit below the sewer main all depend on these pumps to keep working, day and night. When they fail, they flood. We install new packages, service existing ones, and replace units that are past their service life.
We install and service the major brands including Zoeller, Liberty, Little Giant, Myers, and Grundfos.
IL Plumbing License #055-013973. Family-owned since 1911.
Ejector Pumps, Grinder Pumps, and Lift Stations
Different applications need different pumps.
- Sewage ejector pumps handle solids up to 2 inches and are the standard for below-grade toilets, sinks, showers, and floor drains in a light commercial setting. Basin sizing typically ranges from 30 to 150 gallons depending on fixture load.
- Grinder pumps shred solids before pumping, which lets them push through smaller-diameter force mains and much longer runs. They are the right call for buildings a long way from the gravity main, or where the discharge line runs uphill for hundreds of feet.
- Effluent pumps handle graywater from below-grade sinks, HVAC condensate, and floor drains where there are no toilets on the branch.
- Duplex and triplex lift stations put two or three pumps in one basin with alternating control so a single pump failure never floods the building. Municipal buildings, schools, and multi-tenant properties that cannot afford downtime should be on duplex at minimum.
Duplex Redundancy, Alarms, and Battery Backup
The single most common failure we see is a simplex pump that quit on a Saturday night in a building with no alarm. By Monday morning the janitor is standing in raw sewage. There is no reason to run below-grade sewage on an unalarmed simplex if the building carries any real occupancy. We recommend and install:
- Duplex or triplex packages with automatic alternator control panels.
- High-water float alarms wired to a building automation system or a dial-out notifier.
- Sealed lead-acid battery backup on the alarm circuit so a power outage does not silence the alarm.
Pro Tip: Log the run-time hours on your pump control panel once a quarter. A pump that used to run three hours a week and now runs six is telling you something (usually a partial clog on the discharge or a stuck check valve). Free early warning, and it takes 30 seconds.
Service, Repair, and Emergency Response
We service pumps we did not install. Typical calls include float switch replacement, check valve repair, control panel troubleshooting, seal replacement, and full pump swap-outs. For emergency backups and floods, our on-call crew responds across our Lake County service area.
Talk to Us About Your Building
Whether it is a basement break room, a below-grade tenant fit-out, or a full lift station, we can size the system, spec the redundancy, and quote the work. Call 847-566-0871 or use our contact form.